Evacuated
by UKPJOFan
Summary: AU Set in WW2 Following the failure in his attempt to enroll in the British Army at 16, Percy is evacuated to the countryside 'for his own good'. Now he is stuck in this rural hell that couldn't be further removed from his native London. Not only does he now have to put up with living on this farm, but he also has to deal with the oh so wise niece of his adopted parent.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I only own the plot, everything from the PJO and HOO series do not belong to me.**

**Prologue**

**London June 1940**

**Percy**

"I swear at the speed this queue is moving we will actually be 18 by time we sing up," I muttered to my best friend Jason as we took another minuscule step towards the sign up tables.

"Will you shut up" he hissed, glancing nervously around the room, looking to see if anyone had heard me. "Do you want to get caught?"

I shook my head and moved another tiny step forward. Of course I didn't want to get caught, it was my idea to sign up to the army in the first place, even though we where too young. The plan was simple enough, we go in, sign up at the desk, lie about are ages and leave. By the time any of our families find out it would be too late for them to stop us. See the plan was totally fool proof; two fifteen year olds could pass for eighteen right? Right.

To be perfectly honest I was beginning to regret the plan in general, it wasn't that I didn't want to sign up, I did. My father had already gone to France, we hadn't heard any word if he was one of the many soldiers evacuated at Dunkirk. He was presumed missing in action. I had to go to make sure he was safe, to make sure that Mum stayed safe. The only way I could do that was if I signed up. The plan had to work.

"Percy!" Jason yelled and I realised that we had finally reached the front of the queue. I hurried forward to the desk and stood in front of the bored looking recruitment officer.

"Names?"

"Jason Grace and Percy Jackson" Jason replied immediately.

"Ages?"

"Eighteen" I stated, slightly too quickly.

He raised his eyebrows at us and I could see immediately that he didn't believe us, my throat went dry as I waited for him to challenge us but he just rolled his eyed and moved onto the next question.

"Branch of the military you wish to ent-" He began but was cut off by a screech from the back of the room.

"What are you two doing here?"

I winced and turned to Jason who had paled significantly and we turned round. Thalia, Jason's older sister was charging towards us across the room. She grabbed hold of both of our arms and dragged us out of the hall.

I glanced at the recruitment officer and saw him cross two names off the list. I sighed as Thalia muttered in both our ears.

"You are in so much trouble."

**A/N**

**New Prologue done. I hope this is a better start to the story than the old first chapter, nothing is really changing plot wise so this and the new Chapter 1 aren't vital to read but in my opinion make a far better opening to the story than the old first chapter.**

**For those that didn't read the story when the old Chapter 1 was here, hi, this is my First Story on Fan fiction I appreciate all constructive reviews so feel free to leave them and don't worry, Chapters are nearly all longer than this, its just being used to set the scene.**

**Until next time,**

**UKPJOFan**


	2. Chapter 1 - The Train Ride From Hell

**Disclaimer: I only own the plot, everything from the PJO and HOO series do not belong to me.**

**The Train Ride From Hell**

**Percy**

I had an inkling that my genius plan might fail, I had been prepared that it might do so, I had expected some sort of punishment form my mother. I had never however thought that it would backfire so spectacularly as it did. Never mind getting further involved in the war effort by signing up to the army, instead I was being evacuated.

I slumped back on the seat of my chair groaning. It was embarrassing being evacuated, the majority of children evacuated are a lot younger than me, simply because they refused to go, but I can't say no to my mum, I never have been able to. Call me a mummas boy all you want but it's the truth. So the plan had backfired, yes I had got out of Bethnal Green at last but rather than heading to an army training camp I was off to rural Shropshire. Not the way I wanted things to go.

Jason got off relatively easily on his punishment, well if you consider living with Thalia easy, what with her membership of the ATS and the fact she was just genuinely scary. He wasn't being evacuated, he was grounded for the duration of the summer but he got to stay at home. I groaned again, this would be so much easier if he was coming with me, at least then I would know someone up there. This way I would know no one.

I was dragged out of my self-pity session by a sniffling noise I could here coming from the train corridor. Curiosity getting the better of me and I opened the compartment door to see a child no older than 7 crying outside it. Immediately forgetting my own worried I knelt down in front of him.

"Hi little man, what are you doing here?"

He looked up at me with big brown eyes that where swimming with tears.

"My mummy didn't want me anymore" he sniffled, "So she sent me on this train so that a new mummy can look after me." He started to cry harder and I couldn't help but sweep him up in a hug.

"I'm sure that's not true" I assured him as I picked him up and brought him into my compartment, "She just wants to keep you safe, that's why she put you on this train."

"Then why didn't she come with me?"

I sighed "She wasn't allowed to squirt, I'm sure she would have done all she could to stay with you."

"Do you really believe that?"

"I do"

"I'm scared the people up there are going to be really mean though."

I smiled down at him, "Just think of it as an adventure, your going to have loads of fun out there, I know it."

He returned my smile with a toothy grin. "Thanks Mister"

"I'm not a Mister, my names Percy."

"Mines Tyson" the boy said proudly pointing at himself.

"Well then Tyson, do you want to spend the rest of the train ride with me."

He grinned and hopped off my lap and onto the seat opposite.

We spent the rest of the journey playing silly childish games to pass the time, to keep up my reputation as a teenager I would have to say I hated every minute, but in reality I loved it, I had always wanted a younger brother and here I was able to act like I had one, if only for a little while.

"So Tyson, what do you want to do when you grow up?"

He looked at me and said "I want to be like Daddy and work on the trains but I also want to be you to be with me."

I sat there shocked for a couple of moments before Tyson flung himself at me.

"Percy are you alright?" He looked up at me with concern in his eyes and I nodded.

"Why would you want me to be with you?"

"Because I always wanted an older brother."

I swept him up in another hug "You can be anything you want Tyson, and I'm sure we will see each other when were there"

"Maybe we will see each other at school"

"Maybe" I didn't want to disappoint him and say I wasn't planning on going to school.

Our heart to heart ended as the train shuddered to a halt and everyone began packing up their belongings. Tyson looked up at me again and mouthed 'I'm scared'. I took his hand in mine and gave him a reassuring smile as we stepped off the train.

Considering the small size of the station the place was packed. Families swarmed the place looking at children's labels attempting to find the ones that they had been assigned. A fairly young lady with a little boy around Tyson's age came up to us and looked a his label.

"Hello Sweetie, you're going to come live with me" she said to him. Tyson turned to look at me and in nodded, wondering what I did to earn that child's trust so quickly. The woman looked up to me and questioned me.

"Are you his older brother, I didn't want to split up a family I can go check if I can allocate you to me as well, I don't really have the room but-"

I interrupted her, "No he's not my brother, I just looked after him on the train as he was upset, I don't want you to be put out of your way."

She smiled gratefully at me and we turned towards Tyson who was now in deep conversation with the other child. He looked up at me and quickly ran over to give me a hug.

"Bye Percy" he whispered to me.

"Bye Tyson, everything will work out fine, you'll see".

He smiled at me and walked off with his new family. I turned round and saw a plump middle-aged lady walking towards me she glanced at my label." Yes your with me" she stated in a very strong country accent before shaking my hand and telling me to follow her. We walked down the platform, off the station and slightly down the road. She stopped in front of a horse harnessed up to a farmer's trailer. Sitting in the trailer, looking at me was a girl with bright blond hair. She was sitting on two pilled haystacks. My heart fell. I may have told Tyson that everything would work out fine but why couldn't I convince myself. Probably because I had the worst luck in the world.

I hated farms.


	3. Chapter 2 - An Invaded Home

**Chapter 2- An Invaded Home**

**Annabeth POV **

I don't want him to come. This war has messed with my life too much already for someone to just come and sweep in and mess it up even more. Being half German when the country you live in is at war with Germany is not fun. The teasing from my classmates at school has at least finally stopped, at least to my face, allowing me at least some time to escape from the far too empty farmhouse that my aunt and I live in.

It didn't used to be just us two there. Only two years ago there was of five. This blasted war has torn that all apart though. It was only a few weeks after the declaration of war when Mother left saying she had important work to do for the government. 'She may be a woman but she is one of the most brilliant minds in the country', so my father told me after she left, 'even the most sexist government officials knows that they need to consult her before making any plans'. We normally get one letter every two or so months, she clearly misses us dearly, not. Mother has never been much of a mother to me, always wrapped up in her 'secret' work to be willing to do anything but ensure that my academic standards remained high. Father was always the more parenting figure; he was always around working the farm with Aunt Amber. Speaking of Aunt Amber she has lived with us for as long as I can remember. She is Mothers sister even though she gets along far better with Father than she ever did with Mother.

As a result even with Mother not there the house was still fairly full, and still felt like home. That was until father left. I always knew he was from Germany. Having Fredrick as a name was pretty much a giveaway, but I never realised how much trouble it would bring. As the weeks turned into months following the declaration of war, strange people started to hang around the farm, as if they where watching us. Of course I know now they where. Watching him. Dad isn't a NAZI sympathiser, of that I am still convinced. That didn't stop him leaving one night saying it would be safer for us to live without him.

With both my parents gone it felt like my life had been completely ripped off one course and put onto another. Don't get me wrong, I love Amber with all of my heart, but she is not Mother and Father. We can still manage the farm ok, thanks to the Land Girls that the government has sent to keep producing food but still the house is incredibly empty. That's where I made my mistake. I mentioned how lonely it now felt to Amber, I just meant it as a slight comment but she took it to heart and now this has happened. I didn't want to invite some complete stranger into our home just because I felt a little lonely. Not only that but apparently were not even getting some cute little child evacuee to look after. No. We are getting some boy my age. Some stuck up townie boy who will be afraid of a bit of mud and will never have done a good days work in his life.

I've never felt the desire to leave Shropshire, I very rarely feel any desire to even go into Telford never mind traveling to a big city such as London or Birmingham. Not that I dislike cities, the architecture in them is amazing. I have always been fascinated by the neo-gothic architecture of the House of Parliament and if I ever did visit I could probably spend hours studying and examining the different details of the building. It's so far away though, and so far removed from my farm that it just seems unrealistic to travel there. Especially now that it's only her and Amber on the farm. This complete and utter feeling of separation might be why I hate this stranger that I have not yet met so much. He is allowed to travel between the worlds of rural and urban, am I am not. Well I hope he is grateful. If he is one of these snobbish townies that look down on us country bumpkins then I will make his life a living hell, there is no doubt about it.

So here I am, rumbling along the dirt track towards the railway station waiting to see the person who is bound to make my life an even worse hell. I just pray on the possibility that he is a nice person. He has to be. We stop only a few minutes walk from the station and I start panicking. Its not that I'm completely socially inept. I have friends. Its just I don't like letting people get close to me. They always leave; my parents are a good enough example of that. How am I supposed to stay away from someone who is living from me? Difficult. Difficult but doable. It was only then that I realised Amber had left.

I glanced up and down the lane, waiting to see my soon to be housemate. Ah. I didn't factor that into my equations. Walking down the road, just behind Amber, was a boy about my age, with Jet Black hair that stuck up all over the place, and when he looked up at the trailer I saw he had bright green eyes, almost the colour of the sea. I didn't imagine that he would be this attractive. _Shut up Annabeth, he just a stupid townie, it doesn't matter how gorgeously attractive he is, and how I could get lost in his eyes…_ _SHUT UP! _I heard a cough, it was only then that I realised that I had been staring at him.

**Percy POV**

She's staring at me. Like properly staring. She had huge grey intimidating eyes that made her look as if she was looking straight into my soul. Wow that was deep. Anyway, like I was saying she was staring at me and I was beginning to feel uncomfortable until the lady who had collected me from the station coughed. The girl on the trailer suddenly snapped out of it and started looking anywhere but at me.

" Just hop up on the trailer with Annabeth dear," the women who had collected me said, I really needed to get her name "It isn't a long journey to the house". House, she said house, maybe it wasn't a farm after all.

"Thank you ma'am" I replied, trying to make a good first impression.

"Oh please call me Amber" and with that she climbed up on the small seat at the front of the trailer and takes the reigns.

Well here goes nothing. I chucked my suitcase up onto the back of the trailer, and try to jump on. Try being the optimum word. As soon as I hit the trailer floor I slip and fall into one of the haystacks that are piled on the truck. My face burning I turn to hear a snort coming from the girl who had been staring at me earlier. "What" I said irritably, I don't know why but something about that girl just annoyed me.

"Oh nothing" said Blondie, did Amber say she was called Annabeth.

"Well people don't normally make that kind of noise when nothing happens" I retorted, getting more irritated by the minute.

"Its just that I have never seen someone struggle so much to get onto this thing" Annabeth sniggered.

"Well I am sorry that I don't meet your high expectations" I huffed glaring at her. She glared right back, and with those intimidating eyes. Its fair to say that I lost that particular staring contest and we fell into an awkward silence as we trundled along the dirt lane.

The area couldn't be any more different from London if it tried. You had to travel half an hour by tube in London to get to anywhere that looked vaguely natural, and even then it was still in suburbia, you could see houses in the distance. Here there was nothing, just rolling green fields, not a single building or even a sign of human life. It even smelled different. I'd been used to the foul, smoggy sent of London for so long that not having it here felt like something had been ripped from me, it scared me. We rolled along for about 10 minutes before turning off the dirt track and into a field.

The track we where just on was like one of the main streets of the city compared to what we where currently trundling on. Two muddy grooves sat beneath the cart as we headed towards our destination. I could see it now and my faint sense of hope vanished again. My instincts where right, it was a farm, and a big one at that. As we continued to head up the- what can I call it; a trail, a mud stream, I don't know- there was a row of cottages on my left, I assumed that they where for the farmhands. On our right where two large barns, one was full with stacked bails of hay, similar to the ones that we where riding on, while the other was largely empty, obviously awaiting the harvest that wouldn't come for months yet. The most impressive of all though was the farmhouse ahead, my jaw dropped when I saw it; it was almost like a manor. From what it looked like there must be 3 or 4 rooms on each floor. This couldn't get any further away from the two up two down terraced house that I had lived in all of my life.

The cart came to an abrupt halt in a yard in front of the house.

"Welcome to the Chase family farm" cried Amber as she jumped off her seat and into the muddy yard with a squelch. Annabeth soon followed suit as I looked down in horror.

"What is it city boy" she smirked up at me "scared of a little bit of mud?"

"No, its just I don't have any of those fancy boots, I had no need for them in London" I shouted down at her.

"Well you're not going to last long here without some" was her retort as she sauntered off into the house after Amber.

As I squelched off the trailer, trying to not get mud onto my trousers and headed towards the house I realised something. It didn't matter how pretty I though Annabeth's hair was, or how intriguing her grey eyes where, I hated her.

I hated Annabeth Chase.

**A/N**

**Thanks for the response to the first chapter guys**

**cupcakefairy123****: Thanks, and yes there will be more action in upcoming chapters, I just wanted to set the scene and basic character backgrounds in the opening few chapters as they will be acting a bit OOC.**

**Equinoxes****: I agree that the first chapter was a bit Bland but as I said above I had my reasons for it, I did change my plans for this chapter slightly so it had more action in it and there will be a lot more action in the forthcoming chapters**

**grandprincessanastasiaromanov5****: Thanks a lot**

**In case any of you where wondering about an update schedule, I don't currently have one because I know I am unlikely to stick to it, I will be planning to update about once a week but it is likely to be inconsistent as I start to approach exams so I am sorry about that, but I will update whenever I can.**

**Thanks again for reading and please Review with constructive criticism so I can attempt to make my writing better. **


	4. Chapter 3 - Forced Bonding

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot and original characters; if I did I wouldn't be living in a small town just outside London.**

**Forced Bonding**

**Percy POV**

After 2 weeks I must say I had to reassess my opinion of Annabeth, I don't hate her, I only slightly dislike her. I think I might be growing on her as well, ever since it became apparent that I was willing to help out on the farm the snide remarks have been replaced with her just ignoring me. I don't know if I prefer that. Not that I'm saying that I enjoy being verbally attacked every morning at breakfast but I think its better than this silent treatment I am being subjected to now.

I admittedly thought I would hate it here, but to be honest it has not that bad. Firstly it's the house. Back in London my Mum, Dad, and I lived in this tiny terraced house, I didn't have it as bad as some as I had my own room, but when there is barely enough space in that room for a bed it can be a bit of a … tight fit. This farmhouse in comparison is absolutely huge; there are two living rooms on the ground floor alongside a kitchen that is about as big as our whole house back home. On the upper floor there are five bedrooms. Amber and Annabeth each have a room, and I was given the choice of one of two others. When I asked about the 5th room I was met by silence from Annabeth. What a shock that was.

My work on the farm isn't that hard; all I have to do is clear out the pigs every morning. I know what your thinking, how is that not hard, but after acting on clean up duty on the New Years Day parade in London cleaning out some pigs is nothing. There is only one thing that I was right about being on this farm. It's boring. Amber is good enough company but at the end of the day she's a middle-aged woman, the only person I know that's my age around here is Annabeth, and as I have already said, she seems to have become a mute. Just as an example here is how our breakfasts normally go…

Percy: Morning Amber, Morning Annabeth.

Amber: Good morning dear, did you have a good night sleep.

Percy: Yes thank you, what about you Annabeth

Annabeth: …..

Amber: So what are you planning to do today?

Annabeth: …

Percy: I'm not sure; probably just listen to the wireless,

Amber: Well it was nice talking to you both.

See. Awkward. It would be a bit easier if I knew what I had done wrong to earn this special treatment form Annabeth. All I have ever done to her was answer her own taunts with some of my own on the first day, but she's ignoring me like I've killed her parents. Warning, another touchy subject. Don't mention her parents. You see while she is determinately not talking too me that doesn't mean she has sworn off glaring, and I got the worst glare yet when that particular topic came up after I had been here a couple of days. I guessed her dad was in the army, like mine, but it's her Mum that intrigues me. The way Amber spoke about her (when Annabeth was not in the room I might add) it sounded like she was still alive. So why wasn't she here?

It doesn't really matter anyway I value my life too much to go ask Annabeth about it again. So anyway, I've got a bit sidetracked, where was I? Oh yeah, bored. You see Annabeth goes out every two to three days and I am left on my own in my room with just the wireless for company. That's another thing I was wrong about. They have a Wireless signal, very faint but there is enough of one to allow me to listen into my favorite shows, even some weird new ones that I have never heard when living down south. I love listening to the wireless but I miss my friends down in London more, the interaction with real people is nothing like listening to a voice coming out of a metal box, Jason, Pierce, Robert, I wonder what they are doing now, helping out in the docks probably, or maybe even heckling the Wardens house, trying to annoy Reyna. That was quite a popular activity in the area, the Wardens daughter; Reyna was so straight-laced it was so easy to annoy her. Not that we ever set out to annoy her, we were just trying to convince her to be a bit rebellious, but of course she would never go for it and we would end running off down the street, the sounds of pots being thrown after us echoing along the cobbles.

I sighed, as much as life here wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, it didn't make me miss my life in London any less. Life here would be so much better if they had come with me, but no. I was stuck here alone with the stroppy niece of my adopted parent. Oh what fun I was having.

**. . . .**

Breakfast the next morning deviated from its usual track the moment we reached the first 'awkward Annabeth silence'.

"How long are you going to keep up this ridiculous no talking to anyone charade Annabeth" Amber demanded. I was stunned I had never seen her this angry before.

"I don't know what your talking about" Annabeth drawled in reply, adding an obviously fake yawn to add to the effect.

"Don't give me that madam" Amber seethed "You've been ignoring both of us at breakfast ever since Percy arrived"

"Oh I haven't been ignoring both of you" she continued in the same slow and bored voice, "Just him."

It's fair to say at that point I snapped.

"May I just ask" I muttered in a dangerously calm voice "what I have done" my voice was beginning to grow louder, more anger filtering into it, "to deserve the honor of you ignoring me, I have done absolutely nothing too you, I haven't even had the chance to do something even If I wanted too! You know nothing about me," I was shouting by now "stop pretending that you do, so may I will ask again, WHAT HAVE I DONE WRONG!"

She huffed and turned away from me to stare out of the kitchen window.

"Right I have had enough of this!" It was Amber shouting this time " You two are going to work out your differences".

She grabbed us both by the scruffs of our necks and hurled us into one of the two living rooms.

"You two are not leaving here until you have got to know each other," she stated in a deadly serious tone as she slammed the door shut. The sound of a key clicking in the lock reverberated around the room. Great, now I was locked in with her. We stared at each other. She crossed her arms and turned to stair determinately at the opposite wall. Right. If that was they way she was going to act two can play at that game. I whirled around so my back was to her and stared at the door.

**. . . .**

"It's your fault we're in here you know" said a Female voice form behind me, I whirled around in shock.

We had been sitting in silence, determinately not looking at each other for what seemed like over an hour in deathly silence, this statement was the first thing she had said too me since the day I got here. I stared my mouth open slightly.

"Your drooling" Another smart Annabeth comment.

I wiped the side of my mouth hurriedly, feeling my face burn. "What do you mean it's my fault? You're the one who's been giving me the silent treatment." I retorted, trying to conceal my blush.

"It is easier that way" She replied in a much quieter voice.

I started to edge along the floor closer to her, "What do you mean"

"It doesn't matter" her voice was back to normal. "As we're stuck in here we might as well do what Amber said".

I nodded, even though I knew she was just trying to change the subject, "You go first"

"Where are you from?"

"You already know that" I complained, the look on her face told me that I should continue anyway. " Well I'm from London, obviously but you already know that, Bethnal Green is where I'm actually from…"

Annabeth interrupted "Oh, so you're a cockney boy then"

I could hear the smirk in her voice as she said it. "Not really" I argued "I am not from Bow so technically I'm not, although it is very close"

"Oh you so are" she teased, there was a playful edge to her expression that I had never seen before.

"I am not" I insisted before smirking "but if you insist that I am I will speak to you in rhyming slang for the rest of the year".

Annabeth looked horrified, "NO! I'm sorry just no, your accent is bad enough"

"What's wrong with my accent?" I said, feigning hurt.

She laughed, and when she did it seemed like she became a whole different person, this version of Annabeth I could actually like. Naturally being me, I managed to send this version of Annabeth running off into the distance almost immediately.

"So what about you, where are you from?"

"Here"

"You've never lived anywhere else" I asked, my curiosity beginning to get the better of me."

"No, I've never been outside of Shropshire."

Confidence growing slightly I decided to travel into more dangerous waters, "What about your parents, where do they come from?"

Bad move. The walls that Annabeth had seemingly been letting down immediately slammed back up again, she looked at me, glare back on her face. I backtracked.

"It doesn't matter," I hurriedly said. "I was just curious, you ask a question."

She looked at me suspiciously before replying.

"Favorite book?"

My cheeks burned as I thought back to all my difficulties reading at school.

"I don't have one"

" Oh come on, everyone has one" she replied insistently.

Why wont she let the subject drop, "I'm telling you I don't have one, I haven't read many"

"Why won't you tell me the truth"

I was getting angry again now, all thoughts of the easy going Annabeth from a couple of minutes ago forgotten.

"Well you're not telling me all the truth about you, so why should I tell you everything about me!"

I regretted it the minute it came out of my mouth. Annabeths eyes hardened as she stared at me.

"Oh, so its just because your too stupid to read a proper book then?"

That hurt, it felt like a punch to my stomach, I have spent my whole life with people telling me I was stupid and here I was hundreds of miles from home, facing the same comments again.

"What?" I said in a deadly quite voice.

"Well you, city boy, obviously see yourself as above us country types and don't want too stoop down to our level by reading,"

Where was she getting this form, I'd never mentioned anything about coming from the city making myself better than her. I tried to interrupt, but now she was into a full rant.

"I'm sorry for asking such a personal question about your reading habits, I bet you spent your time pickpocketing from strangers rather than reading a book. I bet you never tried to learn to read. You thought it was a skill that was beneath you. Or is it that you are just genuinely so stupid that your brain can't cope with that simple little action!"

I snapped. I couldn't put up with this anymore, despite knowing I was sure to regret it later, I shouted it at her, my biggest secret that I had tried to hide from everyone.

"I can't read! I never have been able to, and trust me, it's not for lack of trying"

Silence, deathly silence filled the room. Annabeth stared at me, a look of horror overcoming her face.

"Why?"

Her voice came out like a whisper, cracked and hollow. The sound of her seeming so broken calmed me down slightly.

"My parents got enough money to take me to the doctors once, they said I have this thing called Dyslexia" I replied in the same low voice.

Annabeth stared at me again for just a few moments, before burying her head in her hands.

**A/N**

**Whoop, Chapter 3 done. Writing all the conversation bits where a lot harder than I though it would be so sorry if it seems a bit forced.**

**Also sorry for making Annabeth a bit OOC in this chapter, It is all explained in the forthcoming chapters and this is the last we see of mean Annabeth for a while and we might see a bit more genuine Percabeth in the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed it and once again please review (no flames) so that I can continue to improve the story.**

**heartofglass99: Thank you, more Percabeth will be coming.**

**Hibernia12: Thanks a lot.**

**The next chapter should be coming along about this time next week so until then,**

**UKPJOFan**


	5. Chapter 4 - Confessions

**A.N. **

**Just a quick thing before you read this chapter, as I am English and the story is set in England I will be using our meaning of words e.g. Soccer is Football, Pants are Trousers etc. sorry if this annoys anyone but it does fit in with the setting.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot and original characters.**

**Confessions**

**Annabeth POV**

Oh Gods, I have become just as bad as them lot at school.

_You're too stupid to read a proper book._

_Stupid that your brain can't cope with that simple action._

_Never tried._

_Too stupid._

_Stupid._

I knew those insults well. I have faced them all the way through my early years at school. I know just what its like to have that sort of abuse thrown at me. After all I have Dyslexia too, and now I have turned into one of them. I have thrown all the abuse back at him.

_It's not my fault I didn't know._

I can't even convince myself of the fact. It doesn't matter if I knew, those types of comments hurt and I know that from first hand experience. I didn't even mean the insults. I just thought he was trying to get back at me for not telling him about my parents. Insults have become my first line of defence after all the bullies at school. I give them back what they give to me and they stop. But I was actually getting to like Percy, but that will al be over now. I have ruined any chance of us being friends.

But I suppose, as he was honest with me….

"So have I"

If I hadn't been so upset the look that crossed his face would have caused me to burst out laughing. His jaw literally dropped and he stared at me with such a dumfounded expression I had to look away.

"But…but… you read all the time, you have the massive library and constantly have a book in your hand and have all these fancy awards from your school and-"

"-also have Dyslexia"

He gaped at me, his mouth moving wordlessly.

"But how do you do it?"

I sighed, knowing that I was going to have to open up at least somewhat about my background, but after what I said to him earlier it only seemed fair.

"My Mother… she is classified as a genius and was the Armies first ever female leader, her battle tactics helped win several of the battles at the end of the Great War alone"

I took a breath, worried about continuing,

"She always used to push me to make me as smart as her, she spent hours teaching me to read, using all these different coloured pages, different sized texts, everything to try and make me read better. At school everyone used to tease me for not being able to read properly, but that just made me more determined. We kept working at it and by the time I was ten I could read as well as anyone.

Percy looked across at me, a look of awe on his face. "Your mum must have been really proud of you after that?"

I bit back the insult that was trying to work its way out, I owed him the truth

"No. She grew distant after that, it was like her plan had succeeded and she moved on to the next one, the one that didn't involve her daughter."

I could feel my eyes starting to tear up, but blinked them away; I was too strong to cry over mundane matters such as my mother.

"That's awful".

Percy spoke in a small voice. He had got closer, much closer. We were right next to each other on the floor now, and my teenage mind couldn't stop itself from noticing again just how attractive he was. I hadn't really looked at him properly since his first day here but my initial reactions where right. He was stunning.

WOAH! Annabeth calm down. You don't want a relationship, you don't like him. Well you didn't like him before today anyway. Can I call him a friend, I have just revealed what my mother was like to him, I haven't even done that to my friends. So I suppose I could call him a friend.

I glanced up at Percy's face and realised that I had just been sat there silently. He was looking at me, eyes filled with concern. I needed to change the topic. Fast.

"I could teach you"

The look of confusion that crossed his face was almost comical.

"Teach me?"

I rolled my eyes "To read with Dyslexia, you will need it if you're coming to school with me at the end of the summer"

His eyes widened with panic and he began to stutter.

"School... but I've finished school… end of the year… get a job"

"Enough!" I half shouted interrupting his ramble that had been becoming more incoherent by the word.

"You are coming to school with me in the autumn, so there is no point arguing about it, Amber has already got you a place."

I glared at him as he opened his mouth to start complaining again. He quickly shut it.

"You are going to school. You are having lessons with me. You will be able to read better than anyone else when I have finished. Understand?"

He nodded mutely and I allowed myself a small grin. I don't know why I had forced him to go to school. Yes Amber had got him a place at the relatively local school but she had told me it was his decision to accept the place. But I wanted him to go; I knew that his obvious hatred of school probably came from his dyslexia, and I guess I have to admit it the idea of spending more time with Percy was appealing. The fact that I had ignored him pretty much non stop for the previous two weeks hung in the back of my mind but I pushed it away for now. I would just have to make up for it.

"So" Percy said in a casual voice, "Friends?"

I thought for a second before smirking.

"How about acquaintances?"

I was rewarded with a lopsided grin.

**. . . .**

**Percy POV**

So as 'acquaintances' Annabeth and I have been getting on better. My reading lessons have started, and have been _incredibly_ fun – note the sarcasm. I all fairness it has helped, while I may be slower than some people while reading, at least I can now get through a sentence without wanting to rip the page its written on to shreds. She's been far more patient with me than I thought she would be as well, maybe she wasn't as evil as I first thought she had been.

No. Scrap that. She wasn't evil at all. Now she had _finally _let down at least some of the walls and let me get to know her I could see that she was a really nice person. The fact that we shared something, even if it was dyslexia, was the first spark of friendship between us. Well I think its friendship, I'm sure Annabeth would call it acquaintanceship or something like that. It is just like her to overcomplicate things.

Then again I am still not convinced I have graduated to full friend status yet. She still vanishes off some days without telling me where she is going. I can't help but feel that she is ashamed of me and doesn't want me to meet her friends. After all who wouldn't be ashamed of a 16-year-old boy who can't read properly, and had been evacuated for _failing _to sign up to the army. I can't blame her for being ashamed of me; after all I'm ashamed of myself.

I slumped back onto my bed, the wireless playing some Vera Lynn track, 'There'll always be an England' I think, and tried to continue my mope. It was at that moment however when someone rudely interrupted my self-loathing session.

The door of my bedroom slammed open. Groaning I turned over to glare at the person who had interrupted my peace. I decided against the glaring the moment I saw who it was. You never win a staring competition with Annabeth.

"Get up, we are going out."

I sat up, shocked. "Going where?"

"Well I have given my friends enough warning about your cockney tendencies, and they _still_ want to meet you, so we are going out." She replied with a smirk.

"You really want me to meet your friends."

She rolled her eyes. "No" she deadpanned, "they bullied me into it."

She glanced at my disheartened expression and burst out laughing.

"Of course I want you to meet them Cockney Boy, why wouldn't I want them to meet me"

I tried to keep a straight face even though inside I felt like jumping around the room.

"I don't think Cockney Boy fits as a nickname."

She looked thoughtful.

"No" she decided, "It doesn't, you need to have a new one by the end of the day."

"How come you can give me a nickname when you don't have one."

"Just because."

This time it was me who rolled their eyes.

**. . . .**

**Annabeth POV**

"Can you tell me where we are going now?"

"For the 50th time Percy no!" I snapped, "I am not telling you where we are going."

He was silent for a moment and I thought that I had finally got through his incredibly thick skull when…

"How about now?"

"FINE!" I shrieked, " The pond, we are going to the pond where my friends and I like to swim, happy now!"

He started bouncing, looking far too overexcited, he was such a child sometimes.

"I love swimming"

I was slightly shocked at this statement, where would he have swum in London, unless in won of the rivers, but there where always boats on them. He must have seen by confused expression because he elaborated.

"My Dad used to always save money so that every other summer we could all spend a weekend in Brighton, he worked in the docks and is in the navy so he always knew how to swim and he taught me when we went."

"So you learnt to swim in the sea" There was a wistful tone to my voice, my parents had never taken me to the beach, and I had never seen it.

"Its not that good you know," Percy said conversationally, "Once I came out and I had loads of seaweed all across my hair."

I gasped.

"That's it"

"That's what"

"Your nickname, Seaweed Brain" I said smugly.

"Where on earth did you get that from?"

"Well you obviously don't have a lot going on up there so that seaweed must have burrowed into your brain."

Percy gave me his lopsided smile.

"Well aren't you just a Wise Girl," he teased.

"Was that supposed to be an insult?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, but its your nickname now, deal with it."

"Since when did I say you could give me a nickname?" I said, trying to look offended but the smile that crept onto my face betrayed me.

"You didn't, but I gave you one anyway, have you got a problem with that Wise Girl"

My laughter was a good enough answer.

"Come on, my friends will be wondering where we are"

I looked around quickly before adding,

"Race you."

I took off sprinting towards the pond, without checking to see his response, I could hear by the pounding feet behind me that he was following.

**A.N.**

**Wow, that was a difficult chapter to write, I am really rubbish at filling out conversations**

**Sorry about this being late, it did take ages to write, I hope you enjoyed the bit of Percabeth in this chapter. Just as a warning actual romantic Percabeth is still a long way off so don't get your hopes up for it happening soon just because they are now 'acquaintances'. **

**Until next time,**

**UKPJOFan**


	6. Chapter 5 - A Pond and the Graces

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the PJO or HOO characters; I only own the plot and original characters.**

**A Pond and the Graces**

**Percy POV**

By the time we reach the pond I am gasping for breath, gods Annabeth can run fast. I don't know why but I have been smiling the whole chase, to be honest I have been smiling ever since she gave me the 'seaweed brain' nickname. I think it might be that she finally has agreed that we are proper friends now. Well she has introduced me to all of her other friends so I hope I am.

I don't know why I want to be her friend so badly, I mean barley a week ago we hated each other. Well she hated me anyway, but it has completely changed since we told each other about our dyslexia. Life out here might actually be bearable now, especially now I have a group of friends to occupy my time with.

Speaking of her friends, they have been really welcoming. A boy called Leo pounced on me the moment we reached the pond, apparently Annabeth had been talking about me and he wanted to see if I was as annoying in person as the way she described me. I glared at her as Leo decided I wasn't and she just smirked back at me. Leo decided to kidnap me at this point to introduce me to everyone else.

Of course there was Leo himself, who is sixteen like me. He has a cousin called Charles but likes to go by Beckendoff, him and his girlfriend, Silena are a year older than us at 17. Silena also has a cousin that's our age, called Piper. Unlike the rest of us Silena and Piper both live in the village rather than out on one of the farms. The Stolls are two brothers name Connor and Travis, their not twins even though they look like it, they work as farmhands on Beckendoff's farm during the summer. Their friends with another girl called Katie who apparently couldn't make it today. The odd thing about Annabeths group of friends is that they are all going back to school next year, despite not needing too.

None of my old friends where willing to go back to school next year, Jason had considered it but changed his mind before we tried to sign up. He probably will have to go now considering how angry Thalia was with him when she caught us. Enough with the reminiscing though, there are far too many dry people here, what's the point of coming to a pond if you're not going to swim.

"So who's going in then?

Leo literally began to bounce in front of me, he was so excited and began to strip off.

"LEO! Keep some clothes on," screamed Piper from behind me. Leo grinned bashfully before turning around and jumping in. I quickly followed suit.

"Wise Girl!" she turned around, "Come on, the waters good."

She shook her head and turned around; resuming a conversation she was having with Piper.

Rolling my eyes I turned to continue swimming only to be met with Leo's smirking face.

"WHAT!" I shouted jumping backwards.

"Since when did you and Annabeth have nicknames" he said wiggling his eyebrows in a way that made his face look absolutely ridiculous.

"What'd you mean" I said, utterly confused.

It didn't click in my head until he stopped doing the eyebrow thing and started making kissing faces.

"NO!, no no no no nope, nothing , there is nothing going on, its more of insults that have stuck, we don't like each other like that."

"Of course you don't" Silena smirked, before turning towards Annabeth, "I really think she needs to get in the water don't you," she winked at me before turning away.

I smirked and got out of the pond, beginning to sneak up behind her.

**. . . . **

**Annabeth POV**

As Percy got dragged away by Leo I forced back a laugh before Piper grabbed hold of me and pulled me towards the edge of the woods.

"So what's the deal between you and the Londoner then?" she asked.

"His names Percy, and nothing, I don't even know if we are friends yet."

"Oh Annabeth, if you weren't friends you wouldn't of corrected me with his name, which I did know by the way, I only used 'the Londoner' because that's what you always used to call him before last week."

"It was 'that Cockney Boy' actually" I retorted.

"Same Difference" she snorted "Either way you used to hate him and now your friends with him."

"We are not friends…. we are acquaintances, I don't want to make any more friends, not after last time, they always leave."

"But Annabeth that shouldn't stop you try- oh gods, LEO! Keep some clothes on"

I turned around just in time to see a splash as Leo and Percy jumped in the water, rapidly followed by Silena and Beckendoff, I tried, and failed to keep a smile off my face as Percy yelled…

"Wise Girl," I turned to look at him, "Come on, the waters good."

I shook my head and turned back to Piper muttering "Seaweed Brain" under my breath, apparently not quietly enough.

"See you already have nicknames for each other, we don't even have nicknames, you know you might be right when you say that your not going to be friends," She raised her eyebrows at me and I quickly backtracked.

"No, you know why I don't want to get close to him, everyone I get close to leaves, my parents did it, _they_ did it, and Percy will too. Percy's guaranteed too, he's only here until the end of the war and he will be straight back off down to London." I sighed unhappily.

"That's not going to stop me from attempting to befriend ours when she gets here from Birmingham next week, you have to give him a chance Annie, " I scowled at the use of the nickname I so hated, "anyway Jason and Thalia didn't want to leave did they, it was their parents that took them down to London."

"That doesn't stop it hurting," I retorted "and anyway its not like they stayed in contact like they said…"

I stopped as I saw Piper looking over my shoulder smirking, I was about to turn around when I felt two arms wrap around my waste and heave me over their shoulder.

"Percy! Put me down this instant or I will kill you!" I shrieked, punching him in the back in an attempt to force him to put me back down.

"My pleasure"

I felt him let go and I fell into the pond, clothes and all with an almighty splash.

I got up and glared at him as piper walked over to the edge of the pond, preparing to get in herself and leaned over.

"You keep telling yourself your not going to be friends with him Annie, because I think you've lost the battle already."

I scowled at her and swam away, thinking to myself she might be right, I have become friends with this idiot despite what had happened with Jason and Thalia. I am so stupid.

**A/N**

**Far quicker update than usual but my original plan was for this to be on the end of the last chapter, but with that one being so late anyway I wanted to get it up as soon as possible which meant I couldn't add this bit.**

**I hope that helps explain why it's a little bit shorter as well but once I wrote the ending I knew I couldn't add anything else onto the scene.**

**I hope you enjoyed the elements of Percabeth, and please review, they have tailed of a bit with the last two chapters and they really are my inspiration to keep going with the story.**

**Me: Thanks for the comment, I am nowhere near as good a writer as some on here but that review inspired me to launch straight into the next chapter so thanks.**

**Thanks to everyone who has Reviewed, Followed, and Faved so far,**

**Until next time**

**UKPJOFan**


	7. Chapter 6 - We meet a Brummie

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the PJO or HOO characters; I only own the plot and original characters.**

**We meet a Brummie**

**Annabeth POV**

"Percy! Hurry up and get out of bed"

When the only answer I reviewed was a groan I walked straight through this door and ripped his curtains open, which was met by an even louder groan.

"Annabeth let me sleep." Percy whined, pulling his pillow over his head, trying to block out the light.

"No, we have to get down to the station by eleven, to meet Pipers new evacuee, and we have to walk."

He rolled over, seemingly determined to ignore me.

"Why do we have to go meet her now, cant we do it later"

"No, because it will make her seem more welcome if we all welcome her off the train, I mean I came to meet you."

Percy seemed to finally through off his attempts to fall back to sleep and sat up, giving me the evil eye.

"That's different though, I was going to live with you… and making me feel welcome, you_ hated_ me for my first two weeks here."

"Oh be quiet and get ready, if your not in the Kitchen in ten minutes I'll drag you out of the house myself" I retorted before sweeping out of the room and down the stairs.

I must fully admit that Piper was definitely right when she said I was fighting a losing battle in not becoming friends with Percy – not that I would ever admit that to her – he is just a too likeable person. That's not to say that my fears about when he leaves have gone away, but for the first time in my life I have decided to actually live in the moment. Trying to hate him was too difficult anyway he is just too sweet. Primary example, one of the first things he asked for my help with during his dyslexia lessons was writing a letter to his mother.

Apparently despite it being her that sent him up here he misses her desperately, I can't help but think if my mother did the same thing I would try and lose contact with her altogether. I felt slightly jealous of him if I'm honest with myself; I have never been close to either of my parents in the same way he seems to be close to his mother.

I was dragged out of my revelry by what sounded like a giant stomping down the stairs. I attempted to hide my smirk as Percy stomped into the kitchen, he was _so_ not a morning person.

"Have a nice sleep?" I asked in a probably slightly too sweet voice.

He scowled back at me before grunting.

"I think I preferred it when you hated me" his face betrayed him though as he let slip a grin slip across his features.

I grinned back "Hurry up and eat your breakfast, we have to leave in ten minutes"

I ignored his next groan - I swear he was trying to impersonate a troll this morning – as I bent down to look inside the boot cupboard.

"You know I don't think I will be able to go …" I rolled my eyes wondering what his excuse would be this time.

"Go on, why?"

"Because the lanes are muddy, and I still have no boots." He answered with an extremely annoying smug tone too his voice.

I found what I was looking for and smirked.

"Not matter, you can just use these instead. I threw what I had found and they landed in his lap."

His face fell so dramatically at the site of the boots I burst out laughing.

"Come on Seaweed Brain, it won't be that bad."

He turned and stared at me, "It doesn't matter what I say does it, you'll make me go whatever."

"Yes I will." I confirmed.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll be ready in five minutes."

I smiled in triumph, turned, and walked out the door.

**. . . .**

It was lucky I found Percy the boots as he was right, there was no way he would have been able to come without his boots. Our lovely British summer was continuing and the constant rain of the night before had turned all the local roads into something resembling a bog. This walk would not be fun.

"Are you sure you want to walk down their?"

I rolled my eyes, _at least he's persistent._

"Yes now come on."

We squelched off down the lane, walking in a comfortable silence that is until it started raining again. I could fell Percy's glare without even looking at him.

"Remind me exactly why we are doing this again?"

I sighed and gave him the answer for abut the 5th time today "We are being friendly, it will make her feel more welcome."

"Your friends didn't come to welcome me though."

"That's because we don't live in town… and I may have just banned them from coming even if they wanted to." I added sheepishly.

Percy's laughter rang through the air at that I grinned slightly. Like I said it is impossible no to like Percy, while most people would have been offended at me doing something like that, he just thought it was funny.

"You really did want to hate me didn't you?"

I beamed up at him. "Yeah I did."

A slightly confused expression fell over his face before he replied.

"Why?"

My stomach dropped and I looked up at him, at that moment I wanted to tell him everything but I knew if I did I would probably end up crying for days and that would be some welcome for Pipers new guest.

"I will tell you, but just not today, maybe sometime when there is better weather, a happier day."

I looked up at him, pleading him to understand. He still looked confused but nodded at my explanation. He didn't bring up the subject again.

**. . . .**

"Do you think she'll bring actual bring proper summer weather with her." Leo commented as we sheltered under a flimsy cover on the train platform.

Piper rolled her eyes at him.

"She's only coming from Birmingham, that's not even that far away, its not like Percy coming all the way from London."

I sniggered as Leo launched into a rant about how Birmingham was a whole world away from Shropshire. Piper's right of course, it isn't anywhere near a long distance between here and the land of the Brummies.

"I wonder what her story is, I mean like Percy's the only person I know who's our age and been evacuated, I wonder why she was?" Katie wondered.

I agreed, I obviously knew Percy's story but now I wanted to know what this unknown girls story was. I realised how hypocritical I sounded, here was me not willing to give out any information about my secrets, and yet I'm desperate to know everyone else's.

"Well I'm sure its less embarrassing than my reason." Percy joked knocking me out of my reverie.

I smirked slightly, "Yeah, busted by your best friends sister how embarrassing can you get."

He hit my arm laughing along with everyone else as a train whistle screeched through the air.

"Ohh" Piper squealed, "She's here!"

The train thundered to a stop at the platform and Pipers mum immediately dashed off through the crowd hunting for their evacuee as the platform was suddenly filled with screeching children.

"How did you deal with this all the way up from London?" I yelled at Percy.

"Not very well!" he yelled back "Why did you think I was in such a bad mood when I got here?" he shouted back.

"Your always in a bad mood Seaweed Brain."

He glared playfully at me before looking over my shoulder. Pipers mum was walking back towards us, followed by a girl with curly red hair, bright green eyes and trousers that looked like they had been splattered with paint.

"Hi, I'm Rachel." She introduced as she looked over us. Her eyes fell on Percy and they widened slightly.

As we all introduced ourselves to her I noticed her eyes never left Percy. I felt my eyes narrow at her, even though I didn't know why.

**. . . .**

I am now convinced that this Rachel girl is the Devil incarnate. Not only does she have this evil red hair but also she seems to have bewitched all my friends into believing she is some wonderful person. I seem to be the only person who can see through to her act and see the truly evil person within.

The worst thing even Percy has fallen under her spell. We are now sat in Pipers house and the two of them are now in a deep conversation about the differences between living in the city and in the country. Piper must have noticed me glairing as she grabbed hold of me and dragged me out of the room.

"What is up with you?" when I looked at her confused she elaborated "You have done nothing but glare at Rachel since the moment she got here"

I avoided her eyes as I replied "There is nothing up!" trying to shut her down.

"Yes there is" she insisted. I continued to avoid her eyes and she gasped.

"Your Jealous!"

I looked up wide-eyed. "No I'm not!"

"Oh you so are."

"Am not, I don't like Percy that way."

"Who mentioned Percy?"

I groaned and her smirk grew even larger.

"I'm telling you I don't like him that way!"

"Fine, fine" Piper conceded, still smirking " your still jealous."

I rolled my eyes, "For the 3rd time, no I'm not."

"Why do you hate her then?"

"Because she's evil, surely you can see that?"

Piper shook her head at me, that annoying smirk _still _on her face.

"She really isn't Annie, she is really a nice person."

Piper turned and skipped off, but not before I heard her singing under her breath.

"Annies jealous! Annies jealous!"

I scowled after her; she could be _so_ immature at times. Anyway I wasn't jealous, Rachael was just evil, and that was all. That was the only explanation.

She was evil.

The alternative is too frightening to consider.

**A/N**

**Wohoo, another week another chapter and we have finally met Rachael.**

**I am not planning on going the usual route of having an evil Rachael like a lot of the stories on here do as I quite like her as a character, her role is probably going to end up very similar to what it is in the actual books.**

**Percabeth is beginning to accelerate faster than I intended it too but I struggled to write about Annabeths irrational hatred of Rachael without her feelings towards Percy being more than platonic, but we do arc towards Annabeths secrets in the next couple of chapters rather than her jealousy so we should see some friendlier Percabeth in forthcoming chapters.**

**Just to give you all very advanced warning their will be very brief Perachael in this story but it will be about as much as there was in the books so very minimal, and at least 3 chapters away.**

**So thanks for reading guys, I can't believe I have already gone over 10,000 words and 15 followers so thanks everyone.**

**But please can I have some reviews; I had none for the last chapter and only one for the previous one so please review with constructive criticism, of course still no flames though.**

**Thanks as always.**

**See you next week.**

**UKPJOFan.**


	8. Chapter 7 - War is Real

**Disclaimer: I don't own the PJO or HOO series, only the plot and original characters.**

**War is real**

**Percy **

_Civilians are reminded to stay clear of RAF Shawbury under all circumstances, recent bombing of the base has not affected its operations and all members of the public should remain calm and keep helping the war eff- _I turned off the wireless with a scowl.

It annoyed me how much they could trivialise the war like this, it was obvious by the sound of the planes flying overhead last night that this wasn't a small attack. I was used to the sounds of planes back when I lived in London but last night was a first since I moved up here. To be honest in freaked me out, not for my own safety though, if they where attacking bases near me now, how would my friends and family be faring in the much more targeted London. I mean as far as I know they are not attacking the cities yet but knowing the Nazis it would only be a matter of time.

I rolled over in my room groaning. I wanted to get back to London. I hated being out of the loop up here, as great as the friends I've made up here are, I feel useless. Rachel is the only one who knows what it feels like; I think that's where the start of our friendship came from. She was sent here against her will as well and has already been plotting schemes on how she can run away back to Birmingham. I must admit, they all seem a little crazy to me, but I listen along anyway. I know I have to stay up here, as annoying as it I I know my Mum means well, but. Rachel just can't seem to understand that and she refuses to settle properly.

Annabeth isn't helping matters though, for some reason she seems to hate Rachel even more than she ever hated me when I first got here. I just can't understand her sometimes; I even resorted to asking Piper and Silena about why she was actin this way. Their responses were almost identical.

"Isn't it obvious, just look at her". When I still looked nonplused they rolled their eyes.

Well no, it isn't obvious. I mean she was the one most excited about meeting Rachel in the first place, she literally dragged me into Allscot to meet her off the train and the moment she set eyes on she her became withdrawn and sullen. She's only like the normal _extremely _sarcastic Annabeth when were alone, or when Rachel is at home painting. I even tried confronting her about it but she just claimed that there was nothing going on and proceeded to continue ranting to me about how I didn't tell her my 16th birthday was last week.

The thing is I have never really celebrated my birthday with friends; it's always just been with my family so I didn't tell anyone up here what day it was. Just thinking back to the events of August the 18th makes me cringe.

_Not long after the postman arrived a seeming hurricane ripped through the house as what turned out to be an angry Annabeth exploded downstairs and charged up the stairs. I barely had a moment to think before she had pinned me up against the wall of my room and was waiving a letter in my face. I vaguely recognised my Mums handwriting as she waved it through the air. _

"_Why?" she demanded, "Did you not tell us that it was your birthday today!"_

"_Because I didn't want to make a fuss", I replied meekly, attempting to edge away from her, not even allowing myself to become indignant at the fact she had read my mail. Annabeths death stare really is scary._

"_Its your birthday Seaweed Brain, it's the one time of year that your allowed to be fussed, if we had known we would have prepared a special meal and invited all of our friends round and…" she continued to rant as I zoned out bringing back my memories of my birthdays back in London._

_They had always been a family event, my Dad would get the afternoon off work and we would spend the afternoon together just the three of playing cards, charades, anything to have fun together. My Mum would then make a dinner that I'm sure cost more than a weeks worth of my Dads wages alongside our customary blue birthday cake. It was always one of those days that made our family a proper family that obviously cared about each other, seemingly the opposite of Annabeths family._

_That's the main reason why I didn't want to celebrate my birthday this year, my Dads most likely dead, I'm hundreds of miles away from home. It wouldn't feel right celebrating my birthday without the traditions of home, without my blue cake, without my parents._

"_-It's the one time of year you're actually allowed to feel special," Annabeth continued to rant. I groaned._

"_All right, fine, you win, you know about it now keep it in mind for next year" I huffed, determined to stop her rant. She glared at me some more before sighing in exasperation herself and dragging me down the stairs. We had cake with dinner, it wasn't blue cake but I would live._

The slamming of the front door ripped me back to the present. I dragged myself out of my room and down the stairs as I heard Amber gossiping to Annabeth about Mrs. Whites daughters relationship with the warden. Knowing the two of them Annabeth would be near suicidal having put up with the inane chatter all morning. I had finished my chores far earlier than them, which had left me moping alone in the farmhouse while the two of them went on their grocery shop.

"Hi, Percy did you finish everything" Amber asked as I walked into the kitchen. Annabeth sighed in relief at the ending of her gossip.

"Yes, but the horses where acting really skittish this morning, I think the planes might have spooked them."

Ambers face contorted into a look of worry and she glanced up at the sky before replying, " I'm sure they will be fine when they get used to it."

A silence settled over us as the implied meaning of those words was felt, we would all have to get used to it. Things where going to get far worse before they got better. After the fiasco in France morale was at an all time low, these planes where doing absolutely nothing to help.

Annabeth coughed and changed the subject.

"So what do you want to do today Seaweed Brain?"

"I don't know, have you planned anything with Piper and Rachel?"

Her face darkened at Rachel's name and she replied coolly "No, they're busy".

Wincing at her harsh tone I decided not to ask again why she hated Rachel and let the topic go. "Why don't you take me exploring then, I still don't really know the area."

"Just the two of us?"

"Yeah"

Her face brightened slightly at that. "Why not? You need to know the area better before school starts in two weeks."

I scowled and muttered under my breath how school was pointless and I shouldn't have to go.

Annabeth heard and laughed before shouting out to Amber.

"I'm going to go to the woods with Percy, we'll be back before dinner."

"Okay, don't be too late, I'll collect anything from the postman for you.

Annabeth snorted next to me. "As if, I never get any letters."

Knowing she was thinking about her family I stayed silent.

**. . . .**

In the end we spent the majority of our time in the woods behind Annabeths farm where I had never been before. We spent about an hour just wandering until we found a clearing next to a slow flowing stream. Annabeth being Annabeth had seemingly planned for all possibilities and had brought both a selection of sandwiches and to my bemusement a rope.

Soon after eating I found out what the rope was for. Annabeth stood and looped the rope over a branch and looked at me expectantly.

"What?" I questioned.

"Well you're the one who worked on the docks, make me a swing"

I smirked at the thought of knowing something that she didn't and grabbed the rope and began tying the necessary knots. We spent the rest of the day just swinging there, chatting about nothing in particular, yes I had to put up with her lectures about the properties of the different plants around the clearing, and her laughs at my 'seaweed brain moments' but it was the calmest and happiest I'd been in years. Whatever barriers and walls Annabeth had put up around herself had completely vanished and she was being completely open. It was as if we had all the time in the world, no dinner to go to, no school, and no war. I had never been at ease this much with a friend, not even Jason. I was happy.

But naturally we did have to go to dinner; we were on a time restriction so as the sun began to set we started to pack up. As I began to climb the tree to untie our swing Annabeth shouted to stop me.

"Why?"

"Leave it here for when we come back… this can be our spot" she replied, I saw her cheeks turning pink but I thought nothing of it. I was too busy mentally doing the Jig as I realised that Annabeth had obvious enjoyed our time together just as much as I did.

"Okay then, but I take that as a promise that we're coming back"

There was no denying it this time, she definitely went red but I still ignored it, after all it had been a very hot day.

"Come on, we better get back" was her only reply, in a slightly higher pitched voice than usual as she turned and left. I jumped out of the tree and ran after her to catch up, scooping the picnic basket out of her hands as I pulled up alongside her.

We headed back to the farm as the sun began to set; too tired to focus on a conversation we walked in comfortable silence. I began to think that if every day could be like this I could be happy for the rest of my life, something I thought I would never happen here. Naturally that meant it wasn't going to last.

The first thing odd that I noticed when we got back to the house was that all the lights where off, Amber was in and should be making dinner, the house usually looked like a beacon, even with the blackouts up. The second thing was the emptiness in the Kitchen, something was wrong. Amber hadn't even started to make dinner; the place didn't look like it had been touched since Annabeth had made our lunch before we left this morning.

I saw Annabeth come up next to me, a look of fear on her face and we set off into the house looking for Amber. It wasn't hard.

She was sitting in the living room in pitch-blackness, staring into the darkness with a letter clutched to her chest. She didn't stir as we walked into the room but when we flicked the light on she flinched before turning and seeing us. She glanced over me and looked at Annabeth with the most serious expression that I have ever seen on her usually jovial face. She silently held out the letter to Annabeth, indicating that she should take it and read

Looking confused Annabeth took the letter and glanced at me. I gave her a reassuring nod and she unfolded the paper and began to read. As her eyes traveled down the page colour drained out of her face and she began to shake.

**A/N**

**I'm so, so, so sorry for the incredibly late update. I had planned to get this out on the Friday two weeks ago but it still wasn't finished then, and I then had a school expedition to Costa Rica that left on the Saturday and only got me back yesterday. Combined with the fact that this is about the third version of this chapter it was completely impossible to update it any earlier.**

**Anyway I have rewarded you with another reason to hate me as I have left a cliffhanger. YAY! Seriously this chapter was originally just planned as a filler but after the relatively long wait I couldn't keep all drama out of proceedings. **

**We also had oblivious Percy and a small amount of Percabeth fluff in this chapter but I'm still warning you not to get your hopes up too much. Rachel hasn't gone away and we will be steering away from Percabeth soon for a couple of chapters. But you will (SPOILER ALERT!) be seeing rather a lot of Jealous Annabeth coming up.**

**So assuming none of you try to come and kill me I will attempt to get chapter 8 up this weekend but I won't promise anything as I have to catch-up on school work and I haven't even begun writing it yet. Year 13 is a massive pain. I also have to study for my driving theory test so yeah, I have a lot going on but this story will 100% continue.**

**Until next time.**

**UKPJOFan**


	9. Chapter 8 - Broken Family

**Disclaimer: I only own the plot, everything from the PJO and HOO series do not belong to me.**

**Broken Family**

**Annabeth**

My memories of Dad have nearly always been happy, unlike the ones with Mum. All of my early childhood memories are with him. When I was three he took me out onto the fields of our farm with a bike he had been making himself for the past month in his workshop. I had been trying to work out what exactly he had been making almost every day but he refused to tell me, stating every time I asked.

"You'll know when the time comes."

The time did come on the 1st August and when he finally revealed the bike to me I burst into tears. He spent the entire day attempting to teach me how to ride it. Despite the fact that I could only manage a few wobbly meters by the end of the day the look of pride on his face suggested I had ridden a thousand miles. We spent days upon days in that field with my bike until I was an expert at riding.

**. . . .**

When I was five we began one of our longest traditions. Every Friday night we would sit down in front of the fire with a chessboard and play several rounds of chess. I don't know hat it was about the game with those black and white pieces but it became one of my favorite pastimes. It was often the thought of Friday chess that got me through the harsh words and sly comments often directed my way at school.

Chess was one of the few constants that stayed as I grew up, the amount of times that we missed a week I could count on one hand, and nearly all of them was when I actually gained mothers attention and she devoted every free hour of the day into my reading lessons. It was always what calmed me down after a stressful week. I still don't know whether it was the game or the time with dad that helped me but either way with him no longer here I cant bring myself to play.

**. . . .**

He attempted to teach me horse riding aged ten. That is the one single thing that he ever failed at completing with me. To be fair we had some improvement, when he first tried to teach me I couldn't even get close to a horse without it attempting to run away, when I tried to mount them they would buck straight away. After a couple of months we had progressed to the point where I could get on and trot around the stable yard before I was thrown off. It was that point where we gave up. Apparently I was just like my mother, the horses couldn't stand her either.

That was the first time I realised that he couldn't do anything. Dad wasn't this all-powerful figure who could protect me from evil. It didn't make me love him any less but looking back it was a very important lesson to learn.

**. . . .**

Dad gradually grew away from me as I grew into my teenage years, alongside working on the farm he began disappearing into his workshop more and more often, whenever I asked him why he uttered the same phrase he had first used back when I was three.

"You'll know when the time comes."

This time, unlike with the bike he never told me what he was working on, the distance between us continued to grow, he comforted me when Jason and Thalia moved away, but beyond are weekly chess matches I was left feeling more and more lonely with two distant parents. I grew used to the situation, it wasn't their fault they had so much work, time with dad grew special, a time to be cherished. I still didn't cherish it enough.

**. . . .**

I was fourteen when I finally beat him at chess. That was one thing about dad, he was always competitive and he never let me win. I deserved victory only when I accomplished it with my mind is what I was always told.

That October Friday was a very cold, overcast day. If I hadn't known better, knowing that it was far too early I would have assumed we where going to get snow. We sat down in front of the fire as usual but I departed from the usual course of action by taking the black pieces from the box rather than the white that I had always previously used. Dad raised his eyebrows at me but said nothing as he picked up the white pieces and set up the board.

The moment Dad left his King unprotected I pounced. I had never been more proud as when I stated the word "Checkmate."

I only ever used black pieces after that.

**. . . .**

Barely a week after war was declared strange people began hanging around the farm, whenever she tried to approach them they seemingly disappeared into the shadows, Mum had recently left so I didn't really want to bother dad about it but after two weeks of seeing them nearly everyway I turned I had to ask.

His reaction shocked me, he simply laughed and told me not to worry, they where no danger to me. I accepted his reasoning and didn't bother him about them again.

**. . . .**

The subject of the strange men wasn't breached again until one of them walked into my class at school. Knowing I couldn't ignore them anymore I demanded answers from Dad as soon as I got home. His answer was both familiar and maddeningly annoying.

"You'll know when the time comes."

He immediately changed topic, discussing the plans for the raft we anted to build to use on the lake, something we had wanted to do for years, but for the first time in my life I wasn't interested in drawing up more plans for it, all I could think was if the time would ever come.

**. . . .**

I should have realised something was wrong the moment dad told me we where going to spend the day together. He may have been the more attentive parent but we hadn't spent a whole day in each other's company for years. At my questioning glance he just laughed and stated how he had missed spending time with his daughter. I being the fool that I am, let the subject drop.

We headed out to the lake, taking the shorter but more treacherous route through the wounds rather than the longwinded way that the track took. Upon arriving I gasped in astonishment.

All the materials and tools to make the raft where there, sitting on the small beach at the lakes edge, on a rug alongside them laid every plan I had ever drawn for the raft. I tuned beaming towards dad and he chuckled.

"I thought it was finally time we made a start on it."

I threw my arms around his neck before turning towards the supplies; we had a lot of work to do.

We worked throughout the day until long after sunset, cutting the planks of wood the right size and lashing them together. Dad dealt with the more arduous tasks of bolting the planks while I determinately fixed the different pieces in place. By the time we had finished a respectable raft floated in the water.

"Time to christen it with a name" dad exclaimed, pulling a bucket of paint from behind a tree. I smiled and after a moments thought I took it off him, bending over to paint the name on the side of the raft.

"The Argo II" I whispered, turning up to look at dads face. It was blazing with pride. A fascination with Ancient Greece was something the whole family shared.

"You are truly you're mothers daughter" he said to me as we turned away. I brushed off the compliment, not wanting to be compared to the woman that abandoned us.

"We have to come back tomorrow to give it its maiden voyage" I said excitedly, sounding far more like I was eight rather than fifteen years old.

"Yes we do" he said quietly, I didn't catch the dark look that crossed his face.

**. . . . **

I woke up early the next morning, and rushed downstairs expecting to find dad sitting at the breakfast table. Instead I found two letters, addressed both to Amber and I in dad's handwriting. I took mine cautiously and opened it.

_My Dearest Annabeth_

_I hate to leave you like this but I have no choice._

_I can't tell you why, just know it is about those men, who have been staying near the farm, with me gone they won't bother you anymore. You will be safe on the farm now, please stay there with Amber I know she will look after you._

_I know you wont understand now but I promise,_

_You'll know when the time comes._

_Sail the Argo II for me._

_Your Dad_

_Frederick Chase_

Tears burned in my eyes as I read the note, he couldn't be leaving me too. My eyes focused in on one line. _You'll know when the time comes. _I was beginning to hate those words.

**. . . .**

All those memories of dad flashed through my mind as I stood staring uncomprehendingly at the sheet of paper in her hand, only two words making sense.

Enemy Spy.

This couldn't be what he meant when he said I would understand, there had to be more to the story than that. My eyes began to water, and my hands began to shake. It couldn't be true.

It couldn't.

I was brought back to earth by Percy's voice. "Annabeth! Are you alright."

I stared at him. I couldn't talk, not yet. I needed to be alone.

I turned and ran, not realising where I was heading too until I reached there. The last happy memory I had ever shared with dad. I slumped in front of the Argo II and began to cry in earnest.

"You'll know when the time comes" he had said.

Well now I knew and I desperately wish I didn't.

**A/N**

**Boom! Another chapter done, sorry about the extra wait again but I couldn't get it out any earlier. We haven't really advanced in the plot at all but we do now know a lot more about Annabeth and her background that made the chapter really fun to right. You also had a spoiler about a future plot twist. Just think about where Thalia and Jason have appeared before.**

**We also had the revelation about Annabeths dad, keep an open mind though, there is still much more than meets the eye about his character which will be explored later and I cant wait till we get to that bit. Things start getting juicy now as we are approaching the start of the Blitz that brings about more drama, and more evacuations. We will be seeing an od character returning which I can't wait for.**

**As always guys please review, I can take constructive criticism for my writing, pacing ect. so please review. They really do inspire me to keep writing.**

**Do look at The Empty Seat, my other story if you have time as well, its more lighthearted than Evacuated but hopefully still worth your time.**

**Until next time**

**UKPJOFan**


	10. Chapter 9 - Lakeside Confessions

**Disclaimer: I only own the plot, everything from the PJO and HOO series do not belong to me.**

**Lakeside Confessions**

**Percy**

Annabeth continued shaking as she looked down at the letter. Her eyes, usually so closed off where filled with emotion, with despair. I couldn't help it, I shouted out.

"Annabeth! Are you alright?"

I wanted to kick myself as she looked up at me; of course she wasn't all right, that much was obvious. She stared at me, pain written across her face before she turned away and ran. I stood there, shocked by her sudden exit before Amber spoke up.

"Follow her," she muttered, her voice raspy as if she hadn't spoken for days. "She can't be left on her own, not now."

I didn't hang around long enough to question why she was so upset; I knew I needed to follow her. I sprinted out of the living room through the kitchen and out the door. I glanced around desperately looking for a sight of blonde hair. She was nowhere to be seen. That's not to say it wasn't obvious where she had gone. As I glanced through the words I could see disturbances to the undergrowth obviously made by a person moving through it in a hurry.

I glanced around me, desperately looking for anywhere else she could have gone, but there was no other alternative, she had gone into the woods. Taking a resigned breath I charged in after her.

It wasn't that I was nervous going through the woods, its just, as stupid as people say I sometimes am, even I know that charging off into woodland you don't know, at night, on your own is not a smart idea. Annabeth was in there though, and I had to make sure she was all right, that overtook all my other instincts so I kept going.

After following the track for about ten minutes it began to rain, groaning to myself, could this night turn any worse? I paused in a clearing for a moment scanning the bushes for any signs of where she ran next. We had been enjoying such a nice day and it had all turned on that letter. _What was written in that letter?_ The questions kept going round and round inside my head. Annabeth never showed emotion, anything she thought was going to hurt her she normally just insulted. I knew that, I had been on the receiving end of it for my first month here. What possibly could have hurt her so much that even that reflex was overcome?

I shook my head, whatever it was she was currently dealing with it on her own, and that was something she shouldn't have to do. I spun round the clearing again, looking for any signs of where she had gone. Catching sight of disturbed undergrowth once more I headed off again, hoping that I was getting close.

The rain was getting persistently heavier as I continued down this, much narrower trail and I was beginning to give up all hope of ever finding her when I heard a different type of water to that of the rain crashing down around me, it sounded like waves lapping on a shore. Within minutes I had burst out of the woods and was standing on the shore of a lake, illuminated only by the weak reflection of the moon that was partially obscured by clouds. On the far side there was a raft, half beached on land, half floating on the shallows, it looked a couple of months old and it appeared to have never been used. I strained my eyes looking for any sight of Annabeth. I caught a glimpse of blonde, slumped next to the mast and grinned in spite of myself. I found her.

I approached slowly, not wanting to scare her. Initially I thought she was asleep despite the storm that was evidently rolling in. It was then that I noticed the gentle shaking of her shoulders and the total defeat in her posture. Seeing her cry seemed to deflate me completely. The Annabeth I knew didn't cry. The Annabeth I knew was one of the strongest people I ever met, what could it be that had broken her so badly.

"Annabeth" I breathed out her name softly, but it still caused her to jump in shock. She turned around suddenly breathing quicker.

"Percy," she said, her voice cracking "Why are you here?"

I scoffed slightly before replying, "I couldn't just let you go off on your own, not when you're this upset."

"I need you to go," she stated slightly more firmly, "I need to get my head in order, and I can't do that around people."

Trying not to feel offended I replied, "Don't you trust me?"

Tears began to leak out of her eyes again as she turned to look at me, "Of course I do, I just worry you will think worse of me if I tell you."

"You're allowed to feel emotions Annabeth" I said quietly "its what makes you human".

She stayed quiet for a moment, her grey eyes observing me. I know despite what she said earlier she was deciding if she could trust me. Her eyes filled with tears and she slumped. I rushed forward, pulling her into a hug as she began to cry.

"It's my dad" she choked out.

I sat there listening as she told me everything, her relationship with her dad before the war, the strange men that surrounded them, the letter and what it had revealed about him.

"I always looked up to him, I ignored all the jibes at school about him being on the other side because he was German as I always thought I knew they weren't true, but they where right. I'm the daughter of a traitor". She dissolved into tears again after that. I tired to calm her down but it was no use, she just cried on my shoulder as we sat under a tree, attempting to shelter ourselves from the rain.

I tried to digest what she had said. I didn't think any worse of her for it, she couldn't choose her parents and it wasn't her fault that her dad was on the wrong side, but I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of hatred towards him, not only was he secretly working for the side which my father was fighting, that had left him missing in action, but he had also abandoned his daughter to deal with the aftermath.

Not everyone was going to see Annabeth the way he did, to a lot of other people she would be the daughter of the traitor, people would think she was one too. I pulled her closer to me as her crying began to fade and her breathing began to slow. It took a few minutes before I realised she had fallen asleep. Looking down at her sleeping form I took in her true appearance for the first time, despite the re puffy eyes and the obvious tear tracks down her face she looked beautiful.

I smiled down at her before kissing the top of her head.

"Sweet dreams Wise girl" I whispered before leaning my head back against the tree and closing my eyes.

**. . . .**

I woke up the next morning feeling relaxed but oddly stiff, with something heavy resting on my chest. Deciding I would rather go back to sleep than work out what it was I screwed my eyes even tighter shut and tried to go back to sleep. I was just drifting off when a shriek brought me back to my senses.

My eyes flew open and met a pair of grey ones staring fearfully back at me.

I glanced around at my surroundings and noticed that we where still under the tree by the lake, except now early morning sunlight illuminated the damp air. I turned rigid as I realised what had happened.

I had spent the night outside. Under a tree. Alone with Annabeth.

Oh Dear.

**A/N**

**And that is another chapter done. Sorry about the short length but considering we already knew what Annabeth was upset about putting in the entirety of their conversation in would have been incredibly repetitive.**

**I hope I made it up to you with the inclusion of Percabeth fluff.**

**Next Chapter should be a bit more lighthearted as they start the school year, but it will only be a quick break as we are very near to the start of the Blitz now that can only mean drama.**

**My next update won't be that chapter though, I have decided to rewrite chapter 1, I have really grown to hate that chapter and I have a feeling a lot of the readers do too as the majority of readers of that chapter don't go on to read the rest of the story. I'm hoping to do that outside of the usual once a week update schedule so I'm still hoping chapter 10 will be up next week.**

**I have several coursework deadlines coming up so I may have to take a quick break after the next chapter but hopefully it won't come to that, I passed my driving theory test so that's one less thing on my mind.**

**So I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I look forward to releasing the next one.**

**Until then,**

**UKPJOFan**


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